one month, one resolution

Tag Archives: Simple Truths

I finished Simple Truths last week. It really is a book I’d like to re-read every few years. This quote in the “On Loneliness and Solitude” chapter stood out to me:

“We can easily fill our days with activity. We buy, we sell, we move from place to place. There is always more to be done, always a way to keep from staring into the still pool where life is more than the chatter of the small affairs of the mind. If we are not careful, we begin to mistake this activity for meaning. We turn our lives into a series of tasks that can occupy all the hours of the clock and still leave us breathless with our sense of work left undone. And always there is work undone. We will die with work undone. The labors of life are endless. Better that you should accept the rhythms of life and know that here are times when you need to stop to draw a breath, no matter how great the labors are before you.”

It was actually this quote that gave me permission to cut myself some slack and not worry about getting this post written before the end of March. (Published on April 4th! Crazy!)

This blog challenges me to give my life more meaning. Lately, I’ve been trying to deepen my meditation practice. My darling husband started reading “8 Minute Meditation: Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life” and so I picked it up too (more about this book later). While I’m not new to meditation, I still absolutely consider myself a beginner. I’ve started trying to apply my meditation practice to eating and so this month’s resolution will be “mindful eating.”

Like this:

I finally started reading Simple Truths. It’s one of those lovely books to give to a graduate, or one of those books to re-read every few years. The author has such a wise way of simplifying the BIG issues in life (work, education, love, etc.) without sounding preach-y. It’s a quick read but I feel as if I just had lunch with one of my life mentors.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes from the travel section:
“When I am old, and my body has begun to fail me, my memories will be waiting for me. They will lift me and carry me over mountains and oceans. I will hold them and turn them and watch them catch the sunlight as they come alive once more in my imagination. I will be rich and I will be at peace.
I want you to have that peace, too.”

Of course, I’d love to hear what resonates with you if you’re reading/read this book.

Like this:

A friend of Ned’s recommended the book Simple Truths for him to read and when it arrived from Amazon, I realized it was our second copy. We’re not sure where the first copy came from but I thought it sounded like the perfect opportunity for our first blog book club. If you’re interested in joining me, pick up a copy of this 111 page book and read along! Happy March!